The present invention relates to industrial process control and monitoring systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to measurement of temperature in an industrial process.
Industrial processes are used in the manufacture and movement of various process fluids as well as other activities including generation of power. In such installations, process variable transmitters are used to measure process variables of a process fluid such as flow, level, pressure, temperature, etc. To measure a temperature in an industrial process, a temperature sensor is typically thermally coupled to a process fluid or component in the industrial process. An electrical characteristic of the temperature sensor changes based upon the temperature of the sensor. This change in the electrical characteristic can be correlated with temperature. However, there are some industrial processes in which the temperature is so great that the life of a temperature sensor is greatly reduced. Further, temperature sensors may be exposed to process materials which may eventually cause the temperature sensor to degrade or completely fail. In such instances, replacement of the temperature sensor is required which may lead to significant down time of the industrial process.